She is strong and energetic, a hard worker. She watches for bargains; her lights burn late into the night.
Proverbs 31:17-18 (NLT)

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Shushybye Review and Giveaway (CLOSED)

Ever since our second child was born in December, our 3 year old has been battling us at bedtime. Every night, he gets out of bed and we have to put him back for about an hour until he finally settles. A few weeks ago, he started pulling the sheet off the bed. Then he added piling all his stuffed animals, slippers and the occasional book on the bed. This past week, he added taking off his jammies and diaper!

Product Info: The wondrous world of Shushybye is capturing the hearts and imaginations of toddlers, preschoolers and adults alike! Shushybye is the original dream-themed entertainment brand for preschoolers, encompassing a national television series on Baby First TV and Comcast VOD, a series of bedtime storybooks from St. Martin’s Press, music CDs from E1 Entertainment, toys and plush dolls, DVDs from PBS Video and sleep wear.

Established in 2004, The Shushybye Company developed and launched Shushybye to inspire children to look forward to sleep time during the day, and to help parents prepare their preschoolers for sleep at night.

It is in Shushybye where dreams are made for children by the Shushies. Children give the Shushies their dream wishes and they are delivered to them by the Shushybye Train as they fall asleep. After making the dreams, the Shushies gather in Pillow Park to dance to the music of the Shushybye Dream Band.

For more information, the Shushies invite you to visit Shushybye to meet the characters and learn more about products available.

Mom’s Initial impression: I put in the Shushybye Sleepover Surprise CD while my son was gone so I could hear it without him interrupting. The story is cute, but at 14 minutes long (with songs), it may be a little long. The narrator and character voices are soothing and the song tracks are great! The blues song is going to be used to get that last burst of pre-bedtime energy out! The lullaby is sweet and should help my kiddo drift off easily! The characters ae really cute too!

My only concern is that the CD showed up as one track. I won’t be able to just play the songs if I want to read the story to him. I’m also a little concerned about the train sound which signals you to turn the page. For my train-obsessed 3 year old, that would distract him!

The Close Your Eyes CD has 11 tracks for a total of 22 and a half minutes of play time. The first two songs are “poppy” and are very catchy! The third is jazzy/big bandy and sounds like Jailhouse Rock meets Rockin’ Robin. The rest of the tracks are just as good. There are several genres and all are well played! I think my son is going to enjoy this as well! I’m visualizing the Wiggles or the Imagination Movers as I listen. It’s on their level!

1st night reactions: My son was as keyed up as usual. We put the Shushybye Sleepover Surprise CD in to play and sat down to listen and read together. It held his attention for the entire time! By the end of the book, he knew the characters and asked me to play it again. He clapped when the characters in the book clapped and he made his happy-big-smile face when the characters were happy at the end. He said the music was “cool” and that he liked the songs. As soon as I explained the Dream Train to him, he was ready to brush his teeth and go to bed! That is usually a fight! We went into his room and he asked me to tell him the story again. He was very excited about the Dream Train (of course, he’s obsessed with trains...) coming to see him. He had his eyes closed and was quiet, and staying in bed. Oh, he thought the glow in the dark cover was pretty cool too! I had to prop it up on the dresser so he could see the stars!

2nd night reactions: This morning, he was still talking about the book and wanted to listen to the Close Your Eyes CD all day! He already knows most of the words to the first track, which he has played all day!

I’m hoping tonight will go as well as last night. Nap time today was the same as bedtime has been: getting out of bed, pulling off sheet/blanket and all his clothes. Plus, he’s keyed up since he’s been indoors all day.

Well, tonight wasn’t as smooth. It didn’t hold his attention as well. I tried playing the Shushybye Sleepover Surprise CD in his radio in his room and it wouldn’t read the disk. (Last night we used the computer to play it, went back to it tonight.) He got up twice and I caught him just before he removed his diaper. It’s an hour after starting bedtime and he’s still wide awake. And it sounds like the sheets are being pulled off right now...
3rd night reactions: This morning, he told me the Dream Train woke him up! He’s still listening to the Close Your Eyes CD! He’s singing along and flying his airplanes (which is his highest compliment to a song) as he spins! We’re going to try skipping his nap today to see if maybe he’s just not tired at bedtime.

My husband did the routine with him tonight and it was smoother than last night. He only got up once. He had fun telling Daddy all about the Shushies! He did pull the sheet off and get up once, but he went down much easier tonight.

4th night reactions: He picked up the book on his own and requested we read it. My husband did the book without the CD just for a change. I think not having the upbeat music helped. He's sound asleep and the jammies and sheets are in place! We did listen to the Close Your Eyes CD all day again.

Buy It: You can purchase Shushybye Sleepover Surprise book with CD from Shushybye HERE.

Win It: Cara with Shushybye has generously offered one of my readers the Shushybye Sleepover Surprise book with CD.

Mandatory Entry: Go to the Shushybye web site and tell me one other product they have that I didn’t mention here. Be sure to leave a comment!

Additional Entries: Be sure to leave an extra comment for each entry method.
One entry -Follow my blog with Google Friend Connect. To follow me, click on the Follow Button on the right hand side of the page.
One entry - Tell me the funniest thing your child has done to keep from going to bed.
Three entries - Blog about this giveaway with a link both to this post and the Shushybye website. Leave a link so I can verify entry.

Giveaway Rules: Please be sure you read these before you start posting comments.

Winner will be chosen, with the True Random Number Generator (Random.org) Sunday, February 28 at 10 PM CST. Winner will be notified via email and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. All entries MUST have your email in them. To keep Spam Bots from snagging you, put your address like this: name(at)server(dot)com. Entries without an email will not count. Come back to see who won on March 1st!

All opinions and experiences in this post are honest and my own. I did receive a copy of the book and CD for review. I received no monetary compensation for this review nor were my opinions influenced by the generosity of the company. Thank you to Cara for choosing me to host this review and giveaway.

My kids are 2, 3 and 4 and the funniest story I can remember is the time that my 4 year old "enlisted" the help of his little siblings to stay up and "protect Mommy from the scary monsters" so that he didn't have to go to bed.maureenruble@yahoo.com

A sort of funny not-going-to-bed story: The other night my 3 year old was standing at his door telling me his tummy hurt. He'd been sick with a hard cough/cold and I was worried it was going to turn disgusting. When I asked why his tummy hurt and if he was okay or sick, he said, "My tummy hurts, I huuuuunnnngry, I need candy, make me feel better." *sigh* He's never said that before so it was pretty amusing! Not so much to him though, he didn't get candy and had to go to bed anyway!

(And no, he wasn't actually hungry, just wanted to eat junk because he saw mommy and daddy were getting ready to watch a movie, lol!)

Extra Entry, funny story- My son now likes to give me a hug at bedtime, look at the door and say "I'm gonna open the door (SMILE)" I tell him no and he says "That's Ridiculus, this is not a game, that's not funny." Apparently we say those things so often at bedtime that he thinks it's funny! ahhhhhhhh!!!!! hlitrenta(at)gmail(dot)com

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First and foremost, I am a Christian. If you don't know my Jesus, I'll introduce you. All you have to do is ask and listen.
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